Opposite Sides of the Continent

My husband grew up in Washington State, served in the military, moved throughout the mid-west, and was in Minot, North Dakota when he first heard my name mentioned. I lived at home, helping my family. I had graduated from school, served overseas, served in local ministry, and the Lord led me to stay home and help my parents take care of a grandmother and my recently adopted siblings.

One of my husband's friends moved to our area, came to our church, and became engaged to one of my closest friends. Andy, my husband, was volunteering at a Bible Camp and a small, newly started church, so he did not have much money. However, our friends asked him to come to their wedding and offered to pay his way! We both heard about each other for the next eight months... but both of us had made commitments not to get involved with anyone until the Lord made it clear that we were to get married.

At their rehearsal, I saw Andy and thought, "I am going to marry that man." I avoided him (not easy since I was helping with directing the wedding and he was in it). The next day, he came to church, and we were briefly introduced.  But that was it.

Two weeks later, a letter came in the mail. Andy and my Dad corresponded for three months until Andy came to visit our whole family. We spent some time together and ended the week deciding to pray and seek the Lord's will. However, He made His will clear to me when my parents told me that if Andy asked me to marry him, I should say yes. 
A month later, Andy came for another visit, and our first in-person courtship visit began. Two months later, my family visited him in North Dakota, and he proposed! He was able to visit once during our engagement (we spent most of the time not wedding planning but taking my grandmother to surgery and then to doctor's appointments).  We did not see each other for four months before our wedding, which occurred exactly one year after our friend's rehearsal dinner and the first time we saw each other!

The Lord was so good to us!  We saw each other only five different times before our wedding, but we knew we were in His will. We spoke on the phone at most two times a week until we got married, but we were confident that we were marrying our closest friend. Both of us had despaired of ever meeting "someone."  We were both in unusual positions in life: Andy was doing volunteer work and was able to fit all his worldly goods in his car, while I was cooking and cleaning for my family all day. The Lord managed to bring together two people from opposite sides of the continent and put them together.  We are convinced that He does indeed bless those who wait for Him. We will soon celebrate our fifth anniversary.

JENNIFER OTT
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
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